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Jewish Studies
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  2. Programs
  3. Undergraduate
  4. Jewish Studies
  5. Major: Bachelor of Arts

Major: Bachelor of Arts

Major
  • Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity opens in a new tab
Program Minimum Units
60 Units
University Minimum Units
180 Units
Interests
Literature & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Studying the Past, Languages, Social Justice & Inequality
Academic Areas
Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts

Overview

The Jewish Studies major provides students with an overview of Jewish history, languages, literature, religion, thought, and politics. Drawing from the Humanities, the Social Sciences, and from courses offered by affiliated faculty in the School of Education, the Jewish Studies major seeks to help students understand Jewish identities, thought, and culture within larger historical and social contexts and to develop their ability to analyze human experience from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Students can explore the multiplicity of racial, ethnic, and religious meanings claimed by or assigned to Jews historically and today.

In addition to the undergraduate major and minor offered through the Interdepartmental Program in CSRE, the Taube Center for Jewish Studies offers a full range of guest lectures, conferences, and symposia. 

The Interdepartmental Program in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE) explores how race and ethnicity shape global history, undergird our social systems, and touch every aspect of our lives. Our courses empower students with the tools to assess and build inclusivity, equity, diversity, accessibility, and justice. CCSRE programs—encompassing Asian American Studies, Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Jewish Studies, and Native American Studies—take an interdisciplinary approach to considering how gender, sexuality, ability, capital, technology, education, politics, and the environment structure our bodies, experiences, and communities. Students have the option to focus on particular racial and ethnic groups and on issues that move across peoples and places. 

The interdisciplinary nature of the academic programs empowers students to enroll in a wide variety of courses. CCSRE listings can be found in Anthropology, Art and Art History, Education, History, Linguistics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Theater and Performance Studies, and more. Majors and minors in CCSRE engage with various perspectives and methodologies and grapple with pivotal themes, including decolonization, indigeneity, intersectionality, movement-building, resistance, solidarity, and wellness. By analyzing interlocking structures of identity and difference, CCSRE students interrogate the role of power, reimagine the world, and reclaim the future.

Requirements

Core Program Requirements

Core Curriculum

Complete all of the following course(s):
CSRE 100

Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity

5 Units

Comparative Core Curriculum

Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
CSRE 101A

Indigeneity and Colonialism

5 Units
CSRE 101B

Institutions and Inequities

5 Units
CSRE 101C

Resistance and Liberation

5 Units

Major Core Courses

Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
JEWISHST 77

"Jewish" in 7 Concepts

3-4 Units
JEWISHST 115

Understanding Jews

3 Units
JEWISHST 117

Crisis and Community in the Jewish Tradition

1-3 Units

Consult with the Associate Director of Jewish Studies to confirm which active courses fulfill the Major Core course requirement.

Breadth in Discipline

Methodology Requirement

Methodology courses should be selected based on their potential to support the student’s projected capstone project.

Methodology courses must be taken for 3-5 units and a letter grade. 

Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
ANTHRO 54Q

For Makers and Thinkers: How to Use Art in Research and Vice Versa

3 Units
ANTHRO 91

Method and Evidence in Anthropology

5 Units
ANTHRO 91A

Archaeological Methods

5 Units
ANTHRO 93

Prefield Research Seminar

5 Units
ANTHRO 98C

Digital Methods in Anthropology

3 Units
COMM 106

Communication Research Methods

4-5 Units
COMM 138

Deliberative Democracy Practicum: Applying Deliberative Polling

3-5 Units
DATASCI 154

Data Science for Social Impact

5 Units
ENGLISH 160

Poetry and Poetics

5 Units
ENGLISH 161

Narrative and Narrative Theory

5 Units
ENGLISH 184E

Literary Text Mining

5 Units
FEMGEN 103

Feminist and Sexuality Studies Theories Across the Disciplines

4-5 Units
FILMEDIA 50Q

The Video Essay: Writing with Video about Media and Culture

3 Units
HISTORY 200A

Doing Legal History

5 Units
HISTORY 200B

Doing Environmental History: Water Justice

5 Units
HISTORY 200BG

Doing History: Biography as History

5 Units
HISTORY 200D

Doing the History of Science and Technology

5 Units
HISTORY 200DE

Doing the History of Death and Disease

5 Units
HISTORY 200F

Doing Microhistory

5 Units
HISTORY 200GH

Doing Gender History

5 Units
HISTORY 200Y

Doing Colonial History

5 Units
POLISCI 150A

Data Science for Politics

3-5 Units
PUBLPOL 105

Empirical Methods in Public Policy

5 Units
PUBLPOL 155

Data Science for Social Impact

5 Units
SOC 180A

Foundations of Social Research

4 Units
SOC 180B

Introduction to Data Analysis

4 Units
URBANST 123B

Community Engaged Research - Principles, Ethics, and Design

3 Units

Note that Methodology courses may not be offered every year. For an up-to-date list of this academic year’s Methodology courses, visit the Core Coursework page on the CCSRE website. opens in a new tab

Community-Engaged Learning Requirement

CCSRE students must complete at least one Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) course or co-curricular experience that centers issues of race, ethnicity, and inequality. This requirement may be fulfilled by enrolling in a Cardinal Course, completing a CCSRE Undergraduate Fellowship, or participating in an Alternative Spring Break. The CEL requirement may be fulfilled by courses that also fulfill other Jewish Studies degree requirements (e.g., a Methodology course may also count toward the CEL requirement). The CEL requirement may be fulfilled by academic experiences, such as fellowships, that do not carry academic units.

Complete any of the following course(s):
AFRICAAM 212

How We Free Us: Activism and Community

4 Units
ASNAMST 191

Sharing Conversations Across Generations: The Magic of Haiku

3-5 Units
CSRE 103B

Race, Ethnicity, and Linguistic Diversity in Classrooms: Sociocultural Theory and Practices

4 Units
CSRE 125E

Shades of Green: Exploring and Expanding Environmental Justice in Practice

3-4 Units
CSRE 146B

Community Engaged Research - Principles, Ethics, and Design

3 Units
CSRE 199

Community Engaged Research Practicum

3 Units
CSRE 245

Understanding Racial and Ethnic Identity Development

3-5 Units
EDUC 309X

Roses Talk: Youth Participatory Action Research for Policy Impact

2-5 Units
EDUC 461

Community Engaged Psychology and Education Field Experience

3 Units
HUMRTS 108

Advanced Spanish Service-Learning: Migration, Asylum, and Human Rights at the Border

1-3 Units
NATIVEAM 112

Muwekma(CEL) Traditional Ecological Knowledge(TEK) Native Plant Garden Field Project

3 Units
SPANLANG 11SL

Second-Year Spanish: Emphasis on Service Learning, First Quarter

4 Units
SPANLANG 12SL

Second-Year Spanish: Emphasis on Service Learning, Second Quarter

4 Units
SPANLANG 13SL

Second-Year Spanish: Emphasis on Service Learning, Third Quarter

4 Units

See the Community-Engaged Learning course list on the Core Coursework page on the CCSRE website opens in a new tab for this year’s curricular offerings.

Electives

Jewish Studies Electives

Jewish Studies majors must complete the remaining units of their 60-unit minimum with elective coursework in Jewish Studies. Exceptions are listed below. 

  • Jewish Studies majors may count up to 8 units of Department of African and African American Studies (DAAAS), Asian American Studies (ASNAMST), Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies (CHILATST), Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE), or Native American Studies (NATIVEAM) courses toward their degree in Jewish Studies.

  • Jewish Studies majors may count up to 15 units of language study toward their major degree.

Language (optional)

A maximum of 15 units of language study may be counted toward the 60-unit total for the Jewish Studies major. Jewish languages offer essential insight into the histories and cultures of Jews, and students are strongly encouraged to enroll in Jewish language coursework. Languages counted toward the major include Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, and other approved languages used to research Jews and Jewishness.

Writing in the Major (WIM)

Writing in the Major (WIM)

Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
CSRE 200X

CCSRE Senior Project

5 Units
CSRE 201X

CCSRE Honors Seminar

5 Units

CCSRE students must plan to complete 200X or 201X in person on Stanford campus in autumn of their final year of study.

Note that the same five-unit course fulfills the WIM and Capstone requirements.

Capstone

Capstone Experience

Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
CSRE 200X

CCSRE Senior Project

5 Units
CSRE 201X

CCSRE Honors Seminar

5 Units

Honors

Optional
Students may choose to pursue department honors by completing a program of special advanced work, such as an honors thesis, in addition to their major requirements.

Honors

Honors (optional)

Honors students must apply with a complete proposal approved by a CCSRE faculty advisor in the spring preceding their final year of study. Honors students must continuously enroll at Stanford in autumn, winter, and spring. For more information about the Honors program and the application process, visit the Honors page on the CCSRE website. opens in a new tab

Honors applications are open to students with a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.7 in the major and 3.5 overall. Students must receive a grade of B+ or above on their thesis and maintain the GPA minimum until graduation in order to receive Honors.

Complete all of the following course(s):
CSRE 201X

CCSRE Honors Seminar

5 Units
CSRE 201Y

CCSRE Honors Seminar

5 Units
CSRE 201Z

CCSRE Honors Seminar

5 Units

A minimum grade of C- is required for a student to count a class towards the Core Curriculum, including the WIM and Capstone requirements.